From Middleburg Heights to University Heights, little difference between east, west suburbs

The first time I tried to get to an assignment in Middleburg Heights, I took the wrong exit off Interstate 71 and missed the city completely.

I grew up in Canton, but have lived on the east side of Cleveland for 35 years. Like most east-siders, that means I have wandered around Squire’s Castle in the North Chagrin Metropark, the town squares in Chagrin Falls and Willoughby, and watched maple sugaring in Geauga County, but I rarely went any farther west than downtown Cleveland, except for rare trips to the airport.

That is, until about four years ago. After Sun consolidated papers and shuffled beats, I was assigned to cover Independence and Middleburg Heights, then later added Parma schools. Finding Independence — really the center of Cuyahoga County — was easy from the Sun offices in Valley View, but Parma and Middleburg Heights were a mystery.

I have often said I can get lost in a swimming pool. After that first adventure, I never got behind the wheel without checking a map or getting driving directions online. Eventually I got a new cell phone equipped with maps and a GPS, and slowly learned my way around.

Not only did I learn the right freeway exits to take for my various assignments, but I grew courageous enough to take side roads. I learned which roads change names west of the Cuyahoga, which streets to avoid at rush hour, and where to find the best views in the fall. With the increased confidence came the realization it didn’t take much longer to get to the “west side” than it did to get to Mentor or Chagrin Falls.

In the past four years, I have found my way to high schools and churches and libraries and city halls all over the west and southwest suburbs. I have been to soccer games in Fairview Park and fish fries in Parma, bought pumpkin milkshakes in Seven Hills and shopped for wedding dresses with my daughter in Strongsville.

I have written about lots of interesting people as well as politics. In the process I have learned the difference between Middleburg and Berea, Parma and Brooklyn, Independence and Seven Hills. The cities may share borders and radio systems, but they have their own histories and traditions, their quirky restaurants and unique businesses.

More importantly, I learned there is very little real difference between Cleveland’s east- side and west-side suburbs. Sure, the east-side neighborhoods are generally older and more diverse, both in architecture and ethnicity, while most of the western suburbs still have some space left to attract new businesses and housing developments. Modern recreation centers in western suburbs are hubs where families come to exercise and socialize, while the eastern counterparts are more likely to house programs in old school buildings.

But in most ways, east and west are alike. Every city in the area is struggling to find ways to hone expenses and increase revenues, to continue to pay safety forces, deal with storm-water issues and crumbling infrastructure, to help the increasing senior population while trying to attract younger families and new businesses.

We all deal with the gray, ever-changing Northeast Ohio weather and love beautiful Lake Erie, in spite of the snow it spawns. We all are still recovering from the county corruption scandal and carefully watching our new county government. We all have a love-hate relationship with Cleveland, with its failing school system, never-winning sports teams, and shrinking population.

I still have much to learn about the west side, but my editors have once again given me a new beat. I am yo-yoing back to the east side, where I will keep tabs on the city of University Heights and several Heights-area school districts.

I am sad to leave behind the friends and relationships I have formed in the past four years. I will miss driving past all the Parma church spires on my way to feisty school board meetings. I will miss the small-town fun — and small-town politics— of Independence, and the friendly and business-savvy folks in Middleburg Heights.

I will not, however, ever miss those long drives home on dark, snowy winter nights.

In my first week on my new beat, I drove in circles around John Carroll University looking for a street that no longer exists, tried to find a parking place around University Heights City Hall, and got lost trying to find a Cleveland Heights school on a winding neighborhood street.

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